Speak, My Love
This is a long speech in which a character speaks their thoughts aloud while alone on stage.
What is a soliloquy?
This literary device provides humor in a serious or tragic story to relieve tension.
What is comic relief?
This occurs when the audience knows something a character does not.
What is dramatic irony?
This is a character trait that leads to a hero’s downfall.
What is tragic flaw?
Using the same grammatical structure in a series of words or phrases is called this.
What is parallel structure?
A long speech delivered by one character to other characters on stage.
What is a monologue?
A joke that plays on the multiple meanings of a word is called this
What is a pun?
The audience knows Juliet is not actually dead, but Romeo believes she is. This is an example of what literary device?
What is dramatic irony?
Romeo’s decisions — such as marrying Juliet quickly and avenging Mercutio — reveal this tragic flaw.
What is impulsiveness?
Identify the error:
“She enjoys reading, to swim, and biking.”
It lacks parallel construction.
A short comment spoken directly to the audience that other characters supposedly cannot hear.
What is aside?
Mercutio makes a joke about being “grave” after he is fatally wounded. This is an example of what literary device?
What is a pun? (“Ask for me tomorrow, and you shall find me a grave man.")
The Prologue reveals that Romeo and Juliet will die before the play even begins. This is an example of what literary device?
What is foreshadowing?
The Montagues and Capulets had this type of conflict
What is external conflict?
Rewrite this sentence using parallel structure:
“Romeo likes fighting, to love passionately, and dramatic speeches.”
“Romeo likes fighting, loving passionately, and giving dramatic speeches.”
(Answers may vary but must match structure.)
Read the example below:
[Enter Juliet.]
[She drops the vial and kneels.]
These instructions in a script are called what?
What are Stage Directions?
“Parting is such sweet sorrow” is an example of what literary device?
What is an oxymoron?
Dramatic irony is used in Act V by...
The audience knows Juliet is alive, which makes Romeo’s actions more suspenseful and tragic because we cannot stop what is about to happen.
Romeo and Juliet's death is caused by...
Answers may vary, but should include evidence
Many readers consider Mercutio’s death and Romeo’s killing of Tybalt to be this part of the plot structure.
What is the climax?
Explain the difference between dialogue and narration and why dialogue is primarily used in plays.
Dialogue is conversation between characters.
Narration is storytelling by a narrator.
Plays rely on dialogue because the story is revealed through character interaction and performance rather than through a narrator.
Why would Shakespeare include comic relief in a tragedy like Romeo and Juliet? Explain the effect on the audience.
Comic relief reduces tension, gives the audience an emotional break, and can make tragic moments feel even more intense by contrast.
Explain the effect dramatic irony has on the audience.
It builds suspense, increases emotional involvement, and makes the tragedy more powerful because the audience watches the characters make decisions based on incomplete information.
Explain how one character’s decision directly leads to the tragic ending of the play.
Answer's vary. Cause and effect must be shown clearly.
Explain why the Prologue is important to the structure of the play.
The Prologue provides exposition and foreshadows the ending by revealing that the lovers will die, which shapes how the audience interprets the events of the play.